Record changing mechanism for magazine phonographs



FIG. 4. FIG. 5.

I i i :5 k N N N a v X FIG. 3.

H. DA COSTA Filed Dec.

l I I r I I I LEN. e i a.

RECORD CHANGING MECHANISM FOR MAGAZINE PHONOGRAPHS Dec. 6, 1955 FIG. I.

United States PatentD RECORD CHANGING MECHANISM FOR MAGAZINE' PHONOGRA'PHS Harry Da Costa, Snaresbrook, England, assiguor to The Plessey-.G ompany--. Limited,-.=llford, rEssex, 'Englaud, a British company This invention r'elates to -.a (record? changing mechanism for; phonographs of the kind in whichrecords arestacked upon the turntable spindle and are released and dropped on to the turntable one at a time.

The invention is applicable to records of different diameters as well as of the same diameter.

According to this invention the turntable spindle comprises a co-axial spindle, said spindle has a notch near the top which provides a shelf on which the lowermost record of a pile can rest, a longitudinal slot is formed through said spindle which slot extends above and below the notch in the spindle, a cam lever mounted in the longitudinal slot in said spindle being free to rock and move vertically therein, the upper edge of said cam lever normally off-set in relation to the ledge in the spindle, a plunger rod slidably mounted in the hollow spindle operatively connected to the'cam member, said cam lever being actuated by said plunger rod to eject the lowermost record from the shelf and provide a temporary support for lowering the last but one record on to the shelf, a retractable pawl is located in the upper portion of the slot in said spindle to provide an off-set portion whereby the lowermost record of the pile of records becomes off-set relative to the spindle to rest on the shelf, and can be laterally displaced, said pawl moves upwardly and into the postto allow played records to be removed when an upwardly directed force is applied to its projecting lower end.

The lateral displacement of at least the lowermost record when placed upon the spindle is automatically effected by the retractable cam, thus when a stack of records to be played is manually placed upon the turntable spindle the retractable cam member displaces the lowermost record on to the shelf, and moreover, enables the stack of played records to be freely lifted off the spindle.

Preferably a spring loading shock absorbing means is provided to take the shock when the stack of records drop on to the temporary support.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a phonograph spindle showing the mechanism in the normal position.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation showing the initial movement for the release of the lowermost record.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the mechanism for supporting the stack of records during release of the lowermost one.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the stack of records lowered on to the spindle.

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation showing the mechanism contracted when removing the records off the turntable spindle, and

Fig. 6 is a section partly in elevation on line A-A of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings:

A co-axial spindle or hollow tube 1 has an elongated opening 2 and a part of the tube 1 around said opening is cut away to form a horizontal shelf 3 to enable the in an expanded position opposite the shelf 3. When the I2 records-to -.be=-.displaced :laterally -as:.they --rest-;upon ;.the shelf 3.

member-4 which. hasaa. tooth-5;-on: onevedge rprojecting into; a .slot -6--in. tube. 1, whereby' the cam member 4..-'has a limited verticalr-movement and-is; provided-with;- a. 'fulcrum about which itcan rock. e'fjheupper-end of: said cam 4 is normally off-set from the shelf 3 as :shown in Big; 1. v

i A.--.plun'gerrod-- 7 slidably mounted-.;.in .tube; 1. beneath the cam-4sisnholloweduatwtheupper: end -.8-.to-eaccom- .modate. a. spring 9*with; as.- ball thereon, -saidball-1 10 engages with a sloping aedge: ,1-1.-formed rat ;the bottom of :the cam member 4. .--.T.he .lower end 7%- ofv the-rod 7a-is.-connected .to-a :cranlc.:12--whereby-.:said trod. .caniebe moved. vertically.

5 -A.-triangular1-slot. 13eissprovided in '-the .eamnmemben 4 .to receive azcross pin=.-14.fiXed= ton-thequppem-end 81 of plunger rod 7 as shown in Fig. 6. Said cross pin 14 controls the movement of the cam member 4.

A helical spring 15 interposed between the lower end of hollow tube 1 and a shoulder 16 formed on the end 7 of the plunger rod 7 serves as a resilient buffer when the stack of records 17 drop on to the upper edge of the cam member 4.

A downwardly extending retractable member 18 with a curved slot 19 is slidably mounted in the upper end of the slot 2 in tube 1 and is suspended by means of a pin 20 fixed to the tube 1 passing through slot 19.

A helical spring 21 is interposed between the member 18 and a cap 22 fixed to the end of spindle 1 which tends to normally maintain the lower end of member 18 stack of records are placed upon the spindle the top of the slot 19 in member 13 presses against the pin 20 thereby preventing said member 18 from collapsing, but when the records are lifted oil? the spindle member 18 retracts automatically because the pin and slotconnection permit the lower end of member 18 to close into the spindle as shown in Fig. 6.

The sequence of operation of the mechanism is as follows: A stack of records 17 are inserted over the hollow tube 1, some of the records at the bottom of the stack 17 are displaced laterally as they pass over the retractable member 18, because this said member 18 is prevented from contracting by the pin 20 being located at the top of slot 19, thus the lowermost record of the stack 16 is directed on to the shelf 3, thereby supporting the stack of records 17 as shown in Fig. 1.

To release the lowermost record of the stack 17 the crank 12 is rocked in the direction of arrow indicated beneath Fig. 2, to raise the plunger rod 7 the tension of spring 9 lifts the cam member 4 until tooth 5 abuts against the upper edge of slot 6, the plunger rod 7 continues moving to increase the tension of spring 9 which in turn presses the ball 10 against the sloping edge 11 at the base of cam member 4 causing same to turn in a clockwise direction about the fulcrum. In this position the tip of cam member 4 is raised above the shelf 3 (see Fig. 3), the cross pin 14 moves to the apex of slot 13 to impart a final clockwise movement to the tip of cam member 4 whereby the lowermost record is removed from the shelf 3 into axial alignment with the spindle and is free to fall, the remainder of the stack of records falls on to the top of cam member 4 which serves as a temporary support, the shock of the impact is absorbed by spring 15. The crank 12 is then rocked in an anti-clockwise direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, when the spindle rod 7 descends the cam member 4 moves vertically downwards until the tooth 5 engages the bottom of the slot 6 when the lowermost record is brought to rest upon the shelf 3 and the cam member 4 being relieved from the tension of spring 9 moves in an anti-clockwise direction and returns to its normal position as indicated in Fig. 4.

To remove the records from the co-axial spindle 1 it is only necessary to lift same OK, the cam member 4 contracts into the co-axial spindle 1 as the records pass thereover and the lower end of retractable member 18 is contracted on being raised by the action of the stack of records thereon as shown in Fig. 4, and the mechanism will automatically return to its normal position after the lowermost record of stack 17 has passed over the tip of members 3 and 18 respectively.

I claim:

In a record changer the combination of a vertical hollow spindle having a record supporting shelf formed by a notch near its top and containing a longitudinal slot extending above and below said notch, said spindle having in addition an opening below said shelf, an ejector cam having axial and oscillatory motion mounted in said slot, said cam comprising a plate having a projecting tooth in one edge, a triangular slot near its upper end, and sloping edge on its lower end, the tooth on said cam plate seating in said opening in said spindle, a

plunger rod in said spindle having a central bore at its upper end, a spring-loaded ball in the bore of said plunger in engagement with the lower sloping edge of said cam plate, said plunger having a slot at its upper end coinciding with the slot in said spindle, and a cross pin fixed in the slot of said plunger and extending through said triangular slot in said cam plate whereby the upper end of said cam plate is moved by the upward movement of said plunger across said shelf to eject the lowermost record seated thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,502,208 Dale -QMar. 28, 1950 2,512,701 Weaver June 27, 1950 2,523,045 Miller et al. Sept. 19, 1950 2,621,932 Knox Dec. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 259,867 Switzerland July 1, 1949 

